Reminder of the statement by Jean-Marc Ayrault, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development (Dec. 13)

While the suffering in Aleppo continues, we are receiving allegations of widespread abuse perpetrated by the forces that support Bashar al-Assad’s regime: the cold-blooded murder of entire families on the grounds that they are reportedly considered to be pro-opposition; summary executions, notably of women and children; people burned alive in their homes; the continued systematic targeting of hospitals, their staff and their patients…

Such atrocities are an affront to the human conscience. There is, more than ever, an urgent need to put an end to the hostilities in Aleppo. The regime’s supporters, starting with Russia, cannot let this happen and accept a strategy based on revenge and systematic terror without running the risk of becoming accomplices to the crimes.

Full light must be shed on the suffering inflicted on the civilian populations of Aleppo. I call on the UN to immediately use all mechanisms available to establish the truth about what is happening in Aleppo and on the international community to ensure that these crimes do not go unpunished.